VIFF 2012 review: When The Night

Cristina Comencini takes a very domestic problem—a sleep-deprived, depressed mother and a colicky baby—and wraps it in a grand visual style not unlike Alfred Hitchcock’s or Roman Polanski’s. The result is a thick sense of foreboding amid the ominous, imposing Italian alps. It’s there that a young mother heads with her constantly crying toddler and faces her own demons, while a lonely mountain man watches on with concern. A bit melodramatic, but atmospherically shot.